The Meteor
by Glossina
Summary: A meteor crashes on the island and the castaways start to regress in age but things are not always as they appear.


Gilligan sat atop a coconut tree with binoculars, looking out across the water. They had been stranded there on the island for three years now but still, everyday, Gilligan would climb the same tree and look for signs of rescue.

"Nothing", the young first mate mumbled glumly. At 26 he was the next youngest person on the island, right after 23 year old Mary Ann and he couldn't help but think of all the fun things that he was missing back home.

"See anything?" the skipper yelled up to him.

"Nothing there, Skipper", Gilligan called back, trying to sound cheerful so he wouldn't make everyone else as sad as he was.

The skipper sighed and then called up to Gilligan. "Come on down then, the girls have breakfast...". The skipper's comment was cut off by an almost shrill shriek from Gilligan. "SKIPPER!", he yelled. "Something's coming in...fast".

He dropped the binoculars, nearly hitting the skipper on the head as he did so and then he slid down the trunk of the tree as fast as he could.

"Gilligan", the skipper roared as he snatched his hat from his head, prepared to hit the younger man on the head with it but Gilligan grabbed the skipper's arm and then pointed. "Look", he said in awe.

The skipper looked and his mouth fell open and then he slapped his hat back on his head and he grabbed Gilligan's arm. "Let's get out of here", he gulped and he and Gilligan began to run.

They arrived back at the huts about 10 minutes later and began yelling frantically. As they yelled, people began pouring out of their huts to see what was the matter.

"There's a meteor coming in hot and fast", the skipper said urgently.

The professor looked up and his eyes widened. "It's going to hit the island", he declared.

"Here?" Ginger asked in a shaking voice but the professor shook his head. "On the other side of the island from the trajectory of the meteor".

Mary Ann opened her mouth to say something but just then there was a loud boom and the entire island shook with the force of it.

"I think it landed", Gilligan said unhelpfully.

"Thank you captain obvious", the skipper growled.

"I think we should go and see what damage was done", the professor said as he started to walk in the direction that the meteor was.

"Here now", Mr. Howell said unhappily. "Are you certain it's safe?"

"As certain as anyone could be", the professor said over his shoulder.

The others fell in behind him and began to walk to the other side of the island.

"Really, Thurston", Mrs. Howell huffed. "How undignified to be traipsing through the jungle like this".

"You can wait back at the camp", the skipper suggested helpfully.

Mrs. Howell sniffed indignantly and continued on in the direction that the meteor had taken.

They arrived at the crash site and found a crater nearly six feet in diameter and in the center of the crater was a large lump of smoking rock.

"Ewww. It's covered in beetles", Mary Ann said as she scrambled backwards. The meteor was indeed covered in beetles that were the size a quarter.

"Wow", Gilligan said as he reached out to touch it. It was the size of a bowling ball and abut the same weight. He picked it up but then yelped and dropped it when he felt how hot it was. It broke open and began emitting a green gas.

"Everybody back", the professor ordered and they all turned and ran.

They made it back to the huts and looked at each other. "That was scary", Mary Ann said as she sat down at the table.

"It sure was", Ginger agreed as she sat next to her.

"I think we're going to be okay", the professor said. "We got out of there pretty quick".

"If we're not okay, I shall sue you", Mr. Howell said angrily. "Imagine, Lovey", he continued to his wife. "Taking chances like that with our lives".

"I know, dear. I know", Mrs. Howell said soothingly as she gave the others a stern look.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you", the skipper said, ignoring the Howells. "But I'm just gonna stay on this side of the island".

"Me too", Gilligan said as he looked nervously in the direction that had just run from.

The day passed and then it was time for bed.

The next day dawned bright and early and Ginger and Mary Ann got up to make breakfast for everyone. Ginger reached for her dress and put it on but it fit funny, almost as if it were too large for her. "I'm going to have to have a talk with Gilligan", she said with irritation. "I don't know what he did to my dress but it's all stretched out".

Mary Ann put on her own dress and frowned. "Hey", she yelped. "Mine is too".

Gilligan hopped from his hammock and landed lightly on the floor. He went over to the mirror and peered into it as he brushed his hair. He blinked in surprise though when he saw a couple of pimples on his face. "Wow", he muttered softly. "I haven't had pimples since high school".

The skipper woke up then and sighed. "Gilligan. What are you doing up so early?" he grumbled.

"Just brushing my hair, Skipper", Gilligan answered. "I wanted to go fishing".

"Well, I guess I can go fishing with you", the skipper said as he climbed from his own hammock. He was a little surprised when he did so and he didn't feel the usual stiffness that came with age. He wasn't exactly old but the was middle age and it usually took him some time to get going in the morning.

The skipper bounced energetically to his feet and stretched. "Let's get going", he said in a chipper way.

He went to the mirror and took the brush from Gilligan and began brushing his own hair. He brushed it out and smiled at his reflection. He looked different somehow. It was then that he realized that the normal crows feet around his eyes were gone. "I must have slept really well", the skipper said.

Gilligan nodded, not really paying attention and grabbed two fishing poles. He handed one to the skipper and kept one for himself and then he grabbed a small, metal pail for bait.

The professor was the next one up and he went to the mirror to brush his teeth. As he was brushing, he noticed that the wisdom teeth that he had had pulled some twenty years before were back in his mouth.

"What's going on here?" he muttered.

The Howells were the next ones up and the changes in them were the most evident. Mr. Howells hair was streaked with dark hair and he had more of it. Mrs. Howells hair was also turning dark and she was looking much more shapely than before.

The castaways all met at the table and looked each other over. "We all look younger", Mary Ann said as she looked down at herself. She was more than a little upset then when she realized that her breasts had shrunk even more.

Ginger looked down at her own self and let out a cry of dismay when she realized that her breasts were nearly as small as Mary Ann's were.

"We have to go back to the crash site", the professor said urgently. "I think that's what 's causing us to...well...de-age".

"Do you really think we're getting younger?" the skipper asked.

"Look for yourself?" the professor said as he gestured to the skipper.

The skipper looked down at himself and was shocked to see that he now had a fit and trim body of a much younger man.

"This is like one of those scary sci fi movies", Gilligan said but when he spoke, his voice cracked like a boy going through puberty, something Gilligan hadn't had to deal with for around ten years or so.

They all turned to stare at him and were shocked to see that his clothes now hung on him and seemed to be about two sizes to big for him now. In fact, instead of looking like he was in his mid to late twenties, he looked like he was in his early to mid teens. "What?" Gilligan squeaked when he saw them all looking at him.

Their shock increased when they looked at Mary Ann. She looked like she was around ten or twelve years old.

Ginger suddenly appeared to be in her late teens to early twenties and the professor looked like he was in his late twenties to early thirties.

The skipper looked like he was in his mid thirties and the Howells both looked to be in their mid forties.

"I think we just got the answer to our question", the professor said. "Now let's get back to the crash site and see what we can find before we become too young to function".

They all raced along through the jungle and quickly arrived at the crash site. The professor gasped and pointed. The beetles that Mary Ann had noticed earlier were now in a larval stage. Well...all except for one. The largest beetle, which looked different than the others was still in his original state of being.

"We have to find more of those beetles", the professor said. "I think they might be the answer to stopping this".

"Spread out, everyone", the skipper ordered. "Look for those beetles".

They all spread out and began looking for the beetles and as they did so, they began to de-age even more.

The Howells now looked like they were in their thirties.

The skipper looked like he was in his mid twenties.

The professor looked like he was in his early twenties.

Ginger looked like she was no more than thirteen.

Gilligan looked like he was about eight and Mary Ann, the youngest of them all looked like she was only six.

They all brought back the beetles to the professor who looked at them in confusion. "Why would you bring me a bunch of icky bugs?" the nine year old asked.

"They're not icky", twelve year old skipper argued, pushing the professor.

The professor fell and then simply sat in the dirt and began crying.

Six year old Ginger stuck her tongue out at the skipper and then tried to hug him but he pushed her away. "Girls are icky", he sobbed which promptly made Ginger start to cry.

Fifteen year old Thurston Howell yelped suddenly and pointed. Four year old Gilligan and one year old Mary Ann were toddling their way through the jungle.

Thirteen year old Lovey raced after them. She swept Mary Ann up on her hip and then grabbed Gilligan by the hand and brought them back to the group.

"This is just hopeless", Lovey said as she began to cry, making Gilligan and Mary Ann cry too.

The skipper took one look at them and sat down in the dirt and he started to cry as well.

Thurston looked around him, feeling hopeless and scared and in all truth, he wanted to cry too.

Suddenly, a helicopter began circling over head. The professor looked up and his eyes went wide. "Hey, look", he shouted, his tears forgotten. "It's a helicopter. Maybe they can help us".

The helicopter landed and several men in what looked like space suits got out and headed to the castaways. "This doesn't look good", one of the men said.

"Hey, look", another man shouted. "One of them is moving. He's alive".

They rushed over and knelt beside the professor who was moving weakly, trying to talk to them. "How...How old are we now?" he asked, his voice thick and fuzzy sounding.

"How old are you?" the first man asked in confusion. "I'm not sure, sir. You look about forty".

The professor looked at them, his senses dulled from the radiation that was coming from the meteor. "Forty?" he said. "I'm supposed to be nine".

"Nine, sir", the second man said. "The youngest one of you appears to be in her twenties. There are no children here".

The professor raised his head weakly and looked around and he realized that it was still the same day that it was when the meteor crashed and they were all still in the same spots that they were in when Gilligan had dropped the meteor, breaking it open.

"Why do I feel so funny?" the professor asked, lowering his head weakly back to the ground.

"Sir, your friends all had radiation poisoning and I'm afraid you do too", the first man said regretfully.

"Had?" the professor asked with dread.

"I'm sorry, sir but they're all gone", the second man said when the first man hesitated to answer. "They've all passed away but I think we got to you in time".

The professor turned his head and looked to where Gilligan lay dead, half in and half out of the small crater that was made by the meteor. The professor sighed softly and then closed his eyes and joined his friends for one last trip.


End file.
